New Brunswick — All over the province, baseball fans are partying like it’s 1993 and coming out in droves to profess their love for the Toronto Blue Jays — while insisting they’re not just jumping on the bandwagon.
“I’ve loved this team ever since they won that championship trophy back when they did,” expressed an elated Mike Burton of Fredericton. “I remember growing up idolizing Joseph Carter — I just thought that guy was the best to play the position he played and the best to ever come out of the country he’s from.”
Canada’s Picture Province has been flooded with Blue Jays hats, shirts, banners and other memorabilia being proudly worn by fans young and old. And it’s been super annoying to anyone who doesn’t care for the team.
“Last year we never heard a chirp from any of these so-called fans,” argued local Red Sox fan Nathan Fanjoy. “Now, all of a sudden we’ve got these people saying they’ve loved the team forever. It’s bull! You gotta stand by your team through the good times and bad to be a true fan.”
It’s not only the province’s landscape that has been littered with Blue Jays logos; social media has been a breeding ground for Blue Jays supporters who have taken to Facebook and Twitter to let the world know about their sudden support of their favourite team.
“I’ve been telling my friends for weeks that the Jays are the best,” explained Joey Zing from Stanley. “I would have told them sooner, but I wanted to make sure they were doing well before I started praising them.”
Zing said it’s been years since he’s paid much attention to his favourite ball team, but he’s noticed that they were making headlines and decided to look at the standings. “Once I saw that they were in first place, I started tagging all the Yankee and Red Sox fans I know in my Facebook statuses,” he recalled.
“I didn’t even realize Joey liked ball,” complained Yankees fan Gary Whalen. “I love ball and talk about it all the time, even when people don’t want me to, but I ain’t ever heard Joey talk about them until a few weeks ago when the Blow Jays won a game against the Yanks.”
Retailers pumping out Blue Jays merchandise certainly hope the craze continues into October.
“Shirts, hats, ties, underwear, socks — you name it, we’ve got it on sale,” said Jessie Plumstead, employee at SportChek in Fredericton. “People want everything and anything to do with the Jays. We were considering bringing in some Blue Jay condoms just for fun, but our manager who’s a Yankee fan said that they probably wouldn’t work past September because the Jays never do — I didn’t really understand, but I figure we’d better not risk it.”